Les éleveurs laitiers gèrent des systèmes complexes combinant production animale et production végétale. Dans un contexte d'évolutions rapides, les démarches de conception de systèmes de production doivent être renouvelées, et répondre à la diversité des situations des exploitations agricoles. La co-conception de systèmes innovants avec les producteurs eux-mêmes se présente comme une démarche intéressante. Les modèles d'exploitation permettent de représenter la complexité du système, mais leur utilisation comme outil d'accompagnement interroge les choix de développement. Ce travail propose une démarche d'accompagnement basée sur l'utilisation d'un modèle de simulation pour appuyer les réflexions de l'éleveur sur ses stratégies d'élevage. Les choix de développement s'appuient sur l'analyse du fonctionnement d'un échantillon de six exploitations. Trois exemples d'utilisation du modèle avec les producteurs sont présentés. Ils montrent comment les résultats du modèle alimentent la discussion autour du proj et de l'éleveur. / Dairy farmers have to manage complex and mixed-farming systems. In the moving context of the agricultural sector, methods of conception of production systems must be renewed and fit the diversity of farmers conditions. The co-conception of production systems with farmers is the approach we want to defend. Whole-farm models help to picture the farming system's complexity but their use as advising services' tools raises questions in terms of model design choices. This PhD proposes an approach of advising services based on the use of a simulation whole-farm model to help farmers in designing their livestock strategies. The model design is based on the analysis of six dairy farms that constitute our study sample. We present three case-studies about the use of our model with dairy farmers. The case-studies give us insight about the capacity of the model's outcomes to generate debates with farmers about their own projects.

Les petits producteurs laitiers font face à de nombreux défis et risques dans l'établissement de leurs systèmes de production, dans un environnement hautement imprévisible marqué par les incertitudes du climat et du marché, par exemple. Mais les défis et les risques peuvent s'avérer encore plus grands quand ils développent leur système à partir de zéro (ex nihilo), une situation courante dans les zones frontières de l'agriculture et dans le cadre de la réforme agraire au Brésil. Trois concepts principaux sont utilisés pour évaluer la dynamique et la capacité d'adaptation des systèmes en fonction des objectifs à atteindre : la résilience, la flexibilité et la vulnérabilité. Cette thèse présente le concept de vulnérabilité lié à des trajectoires de développement de 24 systèmes de production pilotés par des agriculteurs familiaux d'Unaí, Minas Gerais. Nous proposons une évaluation de la vulnérabilité des systèmes de production de lait, basée sur 10 indicateurs construits sur la base des difficultés identifiées par les agriculteurs familiaux. Les indicateurs sont liés aux trois dimensions des trajectoires : dimension familiale (3 indicateurs), technique (4 indicateurs) et financière (3 indicateurs). Les valeurs d'indicateurs de vulnérabilité entre les différentes années pour le même événement (sècheresse en 2007 et 2011), montrent que la plupart des systèmes de production ont vu leur vulnérabilité baisser au fil du temps. Les indicateurs de vulnérabilité liés à la dimension de la famille sont très stables. Un système peut être vulnérable à la même perturbation dans une période et pas dans l'autre, et vice versa. En perspective de ce travail, nous envisageons de présenter les résultats aux agriculteurs et aux autres acteurs de la filière laitière d'Unaí, pour provoquer une discussion entre eux sur les moyens de "construire" un système de production performant sans augmenter la vulnérabilité du système. / Small dairy farmers face many challenges and risks in developing their production systems, in a highly unpredictable environment marked by uncertainties in climate and market, for example. But the challenges and risks are even greater when they develop their system from scratch (ex nihilo), a common situation in agricultural frontier areas and in the context of land reform in Brazil. Three main concepts are used to assess the dynamics and adaptability of systems, depending on the objectives : resilience , flexibility and vulnerability. This thesis presents the concept of vulnerability related to trajectories of development, as it was applied to assess 24 smallholder farming systems in the region of Unaí (Minas Gerais, Brazil). We propose a framework to evaluate the vulnerability of milk production systems, based on 10 indicators derived from the types of “difficulties” faced along the farm development trajectory as identified by smallholder farmers. These 10 indicators relate to three key dimensions of a trajectory : the family dimension (3 indicators), the technical dimension (4 indicators) and the financial dimension (3 indicators). By comparing values of indicators of vulnerability between different years for the same disturbance (a drought which occurred both in 2007 and 2011), many production systems decreased level of vulnerability over time. There is a great stability of the indicators related to family dimension. The vulnerability of five production systems decreased between 2007 and 2011, but with different amplitudes. A system may be vulnerable to a given disturbance at one moment, not vulnerable at another moment, or vice versa. In the near future, we will present our results to farmers and other actors in the milk production chain in Unaí, with the hope of stimulating discussion among them about the best way to "build" a production system that performs well without increasing the vulnerability of the system.

The thesis examines how resource-poor smallholder farmers in Mexico are integrated into a Global Value Chain. Most Global Value Chains depend on production located in developing countries. In agriculture, Global Value Chain tend to concentrate production in large enterprises and exclude smallholder farmers. The logic of Global Value Chains is to reduce the cost of production by allocating low value activities, such as production of commodities to developing countries to take advantage of cheap labour cost. High value activities such as branding, marketing and product development remain in high income countries. The thesis consists of the in-depth case study of San Francisco Produce/Peninsula Organics (SFP/PO) Global Value Chain. It is located throughout Southern Baja Peninsula in Mexico and San Francisco California, U.S.A. It sells organic certified produce to the American market, particularly California and east coast. SFP/PO was founded by a social entrepreneur and has been functioning for over 30 years. This Global Value Chain has an explicit social purpose. It focuses on integrating smallholder farmers into agricultural production. This value chain requires farmers to adopt organic production. The methods consisted of semi-structured interviews. In total, 50 interviews were conducted in Mexico to farmers that belong to the value chain in 9 co-operatives and 3 single farmers. The interviews focused on how farmers learned organic production to meet quality requirements of global buyers. The analysis uses three perspectives to explain the integration of smallholder farmers into SFP/PO and the development of organic production capabilities. First Global Value Chains are used to describe the network, connections and production activities smallholder farmers and global buyer carry out. The study sheds light on how the value chain achieves its social aims by using global markets and providing external inputs to improve farmers' livelihoods. Second, using Technological Capabilities the study explains the skills farmers need to develop to participate in the value chain. Third, a Communities of Practice perspective is used to explain how social learning is involved in developing production capabilities. The research explains how farmers collectively define competence and how they display three different levels of participation in the value chain, periphery, medium and full participation. And fourth, using the theory of Knowing in Action, the research explores co-learning between novice and expert farmers and the interactions among farmers that results in co-innovation to develop new technical solutions and crop varieties. The thesis presents a case of a value chain which is motivated by social purpose to improve livelihoods of smallholder farmers. The study demonstrates that there is a change of ethos, where global value chain integrates farmers into agricultural production. These data highlight the importance of social structures which allow farmer-to-farmer connections which enhance novice farmer skills enabling interactions where there is respect, and negotiation of knowledge. These interactions take indigenous farmers' knowledge into account in ways that can be acknowledged and harnessed in the form of practices and techniques to produce globally marketable products.

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Thesis (M. A. Agricultural Management (Agricultural Extension)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / Smallholder farmers’ need for regular supply of adequate, quality and affordable seed led to the establishments of Community-Based Maize Seed Production Schemes (CBSPSs) in most developing countries, including South Africa. In view of the important influence of perception on the adoption and continued use of an innovation, this study was undertaken to evaluate farmers’ perceptions of CBSPSs in Polokwane and Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipalities of Limpopo province. The conceptualization of perception used in this study was based on the Düvel (1991) framework. The evaluation focused on whether planting the scheme’s main product, improved Open-Pollinated Varieties (improved OPV maize) seed meets farmers’ needs based on their perceptions and the extent of farmers’ planting of improved OPV maize. A census approach was used in view of the small numbers of seed producers in the schemes; all scheme members (50) were, therefore, interviewed between 27 March and 21 April 2017. To allow for comparison, an equal number of farmers (50) who were not members of the scheme were also interviewed. Data was collected from farmers using a semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were applied to analyze the data using SPSS software. A binary logistic model was used to analyze factors that influence farmer perceptions on OPV benefits. The study findings showed that there is a significant relationship between awareness knowledge of improved OPV maize and planting of improved OPV maize. Furthermore, the results showed that farmers perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of improved OPV maize seed were not different among scheme and non-scheme members as they were all in agreement that improved OPV maize have more benefits than their own previously recycled seeds. Finally, findings showed that respondents municipality and scheme membership had a significant, effect on the positive perception of planting improved OPV maize seeds. Other explanatory variables such as sex, farming experience, years of viii schooling, farm size, income and age of participants had no significant effect on farmer perceptions. It is therefore recommended that improved OPV maize be made widely available and promoted based on its advantages to enhance its adoption. Future studies on these seed schemes could look into the production and financial analysis of CBSPSs to ascertain their profitability and sustainability. / Agricultural Research Council (ARC)

Thesis (LLM. (Management and Law)) -- University of Limpopo, 2013 / Rural areas of Zimbabwe suffered acute shortage of banking services. Conventional banks feared high transaction costs and lack of collateral associated with this market segment. This research aimed at evaluating impact of microfinance on rural farming sector. Finding out the general banking and microfinance situation, appraising scheme impact and making recommendations were the research’s objectives. A descriptive research design was used. A population of 3,400 members constituting 289 Investment Groups (IGs) was used. Quota and purposive sampling were used to select 20 IGs and 154 individual respondents. Sample survey, Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and Key Informant Interviews (KII) were data collection methods. The survey findings showed that the five Department For International Development’s (DFID’s) Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) asset bases increased more for the treatment than the control groups, signifying microfinance impact. Wealth ranking, meant to triangulate survey results, depicted upward mobility of groups; old ones transcending to rich categories while the new moved into top poor rank, also demonstrating impact. Further, scheme achieved women empowerment basing on their numerical predominance and improved self-confidence, signifying impact. The study recommends that Farmers’ Association of Community self-Help Investment Groups (FACHIG) resuscitated its savings component using the Self-Help Group (SHG) thrift approach to ensure scheme sustainability. In addition, climate change, a phenomenon which increased droughts, could have dampened impact. However, the research did not delve into this area, compelling a future study.

Smallholder livestock keeping and agriculture systems in the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) seem to be caught into poverty traps, in as much as they cannot any longer provide ecosystem services on which local communities depend for their survival. I used a regime shifts framework to carry out a thorough assessment of these two case studies in arid and semi-arid lands and smallholder by identifying relevant traps and alternate desirable regimes. Using systems analysis and modelling, I drew casual loop diagrams of the two case studies, which helped me to identify the feedback loops that maintain the systems in undesirable traps and the external driving forces of change. A set of interventions points or leverage points were identified to change the dynamics of the systems and shift them towards more desirable regimes. Essentially, a structural change of both systems is called for if sustainable livelihoods in the rural areas of the SSA are to be seriously envisaged. Human capital investments present the main opportunity for facilitating escape from poverty by transforming farmers to non-farmers and livestock keepers to non-livestock keepers.

This report will outline a new framework for improved yields and increased sustainability in Sub-Saharan African smallholder agriculture. Given the failures of agricultural development aid and policy in the past, cross-sector collaboration among local farmer networks, national governments, and private corporations could represent a new model to foster sustainable agricultural production and growth, as each has had past successes but have not traditionally come together to work as a collaborative unit. This paper will examine each sector to look at best practices and then develop a framework for such collaboration. After a normative case with a positive outlook as to the potential for implementing the framework to Senegal‘s groundnut sector, the paper concludes that the framework can work in a variety of settings as long as one is aware of and respects local conditions. / text

This thesis examines the local waterscapes of two smallholder irrigation farming systems in the dry lands of East African in a context of socio-ecological changes. It focuses on three aspects: institutional arrangements, gender relations and landscape investments.  This thesis is based on a reflexive analysis of cross-cultural, cross-language research, particularly focusing on the role of field assistants and interpreters, and on member checking as a method to ensure validity. Flexible irrigation infrastructure in Sibou, Kenya, and Engaruka, Tanzania, allow farmers to shift the course of water and to extend or reduce the area cultivated depending on seasonal rainfall patterns. Water conflicts are avoided through a decentralized common property management system. Water rights are continuously renegotiated depending on water supply. Water is seen as a common good the management of which is guided by mutual understanding to prevent conflicts through participation and shared information about water rights. However, participation in water management is a privilege that is endowed mostly to men. Strict patriarchal norms regulate control over water and practically exclude women from irrigation management. The control over water usage for productive means is a manifestation of masculinity. The same gender bias has emerged in recent decades as men have increased their engagement in agriculture by cultivating crops for sale. Women, because of their subordinated position, cannot take advantage of the recent livelihood diversification. Rather, the cultivation of horticultural products for sale has increased the workload for women who already farm most food crops for family consumption. In addition, they now have to weed and harvest the commercial crops that their husbands sell for profit. This agricultural gender divide is mirrored in men´s and women´s response to increased climate variability. Women intercrop as a risk adverting strategy, while men sow more rounds of crops for sale when the rain allows for it. Additionally, while discursively underestimated by men, women´s assistance is materially fundamental to maintaining of the irrigation infrastructure and to ensuring the soil fertility that makes the cultivation of crops for sale possible. In sum, this thesis highlights the adaptation potentials of contemporary smallholder irrigation systems through local common property regimes that, while not inclusive towards women, avoid conflicts generated by shifting water supply and increased climate variability. To be able to assess the success and viability of irrigation systems, research must be carried out at a local level. By studying how local water management works, how conflicts are adverted through common property regimes and how these systems adapt to socio-ecological changes, this thesis provides insights that are important both for the planning of current irrigation schemes and the rehabilitation or the extension of older systems. By investigating the factors behind the consistent marginalization of women from water management and their subordinated role in agricultural production, this study also cautions against the reproduction of these discriminatory norms in the planning of irrigation projects. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Manuscript.</p><p> </p>

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